Matter of RSC

921 S.W.2d 506, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1680, 1996 WL 203240
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 25, 1996
Docket2-95-252-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 921 S.W.2d 506 (Matter of RSC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of RSC, 921 S.W.2d 506, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1680, 1996 WL 203240 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

921 S.W.2d 506 (1996)

In the Matter of R.S.C.

No. 2-95-252-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fort Worth.

April 25, 1996.

*508 Ronald D. Vanzura, Denton, for Appellant.

Kathleen Walsh, Assistant District Attorney, Denton, for Appellee.

Before DAY, RICHARDS, and HOLMAN, JJ.

OPINION

HOLMAN, Justice.

This is a mental illness case under the Texas Health and Safety Code, sections 571.001-.021. A jury was waived, and after hearing evidence and finding that the Appellant R.S.C. had a mental illness which made it likely that she would cause herself serious harm if not treated, the court signed a judgment on October 19, 1995, for court-ordered temporary mental health services, committing Appellant to the Wichita Falls State Hospital for a period not to exceed ninety days. A separate order, signed the same day, authorized her treatment with psychoactive medication.

Although the ninety day period expired on January 17, 1996, the principle that appellate courts will not decide moot propositions does not apply to appeals from involuntary commitments for temporary hospitalization in a mental hospital for a period not to exceed ninety days. State v. Lodge, 608 S.W.2d 910, 912 (Tex.1980); L.S. v. State, 867 S.W.2d 838, 841 n. 2 (Tex.App.—Austin 1993, no writ).

Appellant has filed a brief on appeal, but the State has not. Appellant's first point of error challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence on which her ninety day commitment was based and argues that the "clear and convincing" standard of proof was not met. Appellant also contends that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to support the finding that she was incapable of making a rational and informed decision as to whether or not to submit to inpatient treatment and to psychoactive medication for mental illness.

We affirm.

On October 7, 1995, a peace officer took custody of Appellant without a warrant and filed an Application for Emergency Detention on grounds that the officer believed Appellant was mentally ill and that there was imminent risk that she would seriously harm herself or others. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. §§ 573.001, 573.002 (Vernon 1992). This application was in the court's file at the time of the October 19, 1995 hearing and judgment.

On October 6, 1995, a physician at Charter Hospital, Conrad Schmitt, M.D., had examined Appellant for mental illness. See id. § 573.021. In a Certificate of Medical Examination for Mental Illness, the physician made written findings that Appellant was bipolar manic, psychotic, delusional, disorganized and "totally disregarding personal safety." He found that the Appellant was mentally ill and likely to cause serious harm to herself or to others; and that she was unable to make a rational and informed decision as to whether to submit to treatment, and that if not treated, she would continue to suffer severe and abnormal mental, emotional and physical distress and would continue to experience deterioration of the ability to function independently. See id. § 574.011. This certificate was in the court's file at the time of the October 19, 1995 hearing and judgment.

*509 Appellant was not charged with any criminal offense. On October 6, 1995, Mary Semanski, a registered nurse, had made a sworn Application for Temporary Mental Health Services for Appellant on the same grounds that the peace officer alleged. See id. § 574.001 (Vernon Supp.1996). This application was in the court's file at the time of the October 19, 1995 hearing and judgment.

On October 9, 1995, relying on Dr. Schmitt's sworn Certificate of Medical Examination for Mental Illness, an assistant district attorney signed and filed a Motion for Protective Custody of the Appellant until the final hearing on the Application for Temporary Mental Health Services. See id. § 574.021 (Vernon 1992). On October 9, 1995, the court ordered that the Appellant be held in protective custody at Wichita Falls State Hospital, pending a probable cause hearing. See id. §§ 574.022, 574.023.

In a separate order dated October 9, 1995, the court appointed attorney Ronald D. Vanzura to represent Appellant and ordered a hearing on probable cause to be held that day at 3:00 p.m. See id. §§ 574.024 (Vernon 1992), 574.025 (Vernon Supp.1996). That order also set a hearing on the Application for Court-Ordered Mental Health Services (for Appellant) for October 19, 1995, at 3:00 p.m. in the probate court of Denton County. See id. § 574.005 (Vernon 1992). The order required the court clerk to give notice of its contents to the Appellant and to her court-appointed attorney. See id. § 574.006 (Vernon 1992 & Supp.1996). The sheriff served the notice October 9, 1995, at 3:00 p.m.

The probable cause hearing was held October 9, 1995, at the end of which the court signed an order finding that probable cause existed for continuing to hold Appellant in protective custody in the Wichita Falls State Hospital. See id. § 574.026 (Vernon 1992).

On October 13, 1995, Sharon Allen, M.D., a physician at the Wichita Falls State Hospital, examined Appellant for mental illness and, in a sworn certificate, her written diagnosis was "schizophrenia, chronic, paranoid type; rule out mental disorder, NOS, due to seizure or cerebral vascular disease." The certificate also included Dr. Allen's opinion that Appellant is likely to cause serious harm to herself and that the Appellant will, if not treated, continue to suffer severe and abnormal mental, emotional or physical distress and will continue to experience deterioration of her ability to function independently and is unable to make a rational and informed decision as to whether to submit to treatment. Further, Dr. Allen's written findings were that the Appellant had a fixed delusion about a silicone chip in her head that the Appellant believed enabled her to receive messages about her children. The same day, Dr. Allen made sworn application for a court order to authorize Appellant's treatment with psychoactive medication. See id. § 574.104 (Vernon Supp.1996). The court scheduled a hearing on that application for October 19, 1995, at 3:00 p.m. and had written notice given to the Appellant and her attorney. Dr. Allen's certificate was in the court's file at the time of the October 19, 1995 hearing and judgment.

The October 19, 1995 hearing was attended by Appellant, her court-appointed attorney and a Dallas physician. The physician, James G. Shupe, M.D., testified that he had examined Appellant that day and "what she said didn't seem to make much sense to me." Dr. Shupe testified that Appellant told him she is the daughter of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier "and that somehow from there she had ended up with President Roosevelt—we didn't know which one—and had gone off with the caretaker and then been found by Leonard Sanders who—and it just kept going. And that Princes [sic] Grace Kelly was a Navy SEAL and that's how—somehow that's how she got to President Roosevelt." Dr. Shupe testified that he diagnosed Appellant's illness as "[p]sychotic disorder not otherwise specified," for which she needs inpatient treatment with psychoactive medication.

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R.S.C., Matter Of
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Bluebook (online)
921 S.W.2d 506, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1680, 1996 WL 203240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-rsc-texapp-1996.